Spotted Touch-Me-Not (impatiens capensis)

Spotted Touch-Me-Not (Impatiens capensis)

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Spotted Touch-Me-Not (impatiens capensis)

The Spotted Touch-Me-Not (Impatiens capensis), also known as Jewelweed, is a member of the Balsaminaceae or Touch-Me-Not family.  This is an annual that grows from 2- to 5-feet tall with almost succulent widely branching stems.  The leaves are soft, toothed, long stalked, elliptical to ovate in shape with pale undersides, from 1- to 4-inches long.  The reddish-orange flowers are thickly spotted with reddish-brown and are solitary on slender drooping stalks from the leaf axils, and have a cone-shaped, pouch-like sepal with a narrow spur curved forward beneath the pouch.  This plant is frequently found in wet woodlands, on roadsides, stream banks and swamps, often in large colonies.  It is found throughout most of the area east of the Rockies from southern Canada to South Carolina and east through Alabama and Oklahoma.  It flowers from June to September.

A poultice of crushed leaves may be used to relive irritation from poison ivy and nettle rash – a well known folk remedy.

Water droplets on the leaves sometimes form jewel-like reflections, hence the common name Jewelweed.